am--4 DI/Weights/Harts+. Fine morning. I'm lifting more each week, which feels good but also makes me anxious about my SI joint. I didn't run in the afternoon because we were timing kids.
I did finish another book during a long day of ACT stuff. Why Die? is Graem Sims' bio of Percy "Only the fit are fearless" Cerutty. What an interesting guy. He was curious and crazy and innovative and egotistical. Bill Aris claims that Cerutty's work is the foundation of what he does with his FM kids. That's what initially intrigued me about Percy, but his vision of athletics and life keeps me digging for more:
"Many of their talks focused on the development of the Christ Consciousness in Elliott. Cerutty believed that the pain experienced in training and competition acted as a purifier, and that by accepting it and using it, rather than resisting it, a man might come to understand Christ's sacrifice, and develop more compassion as a result. The subsequent miracles would be wrought on the race track. Athletics, while requiring a degree of selfishness in an individual, would ultimately uplift mankind" (190).
Good stuff. The thinkers that influenced Cerutty--Alexis Carrel and his book Man the Unknown, George Hackenschmidt and his book Physical Strength and How I Acquired It, Arthur Newton and his book Running, and, finally, Jiddu Krishnamurti--give me some more rabbit holes to explore. If you can get your hands on the book, it's worth the read.
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